Haley Kasler led the Raiders with 17 kills between the two matches
Top-10 Teams Take Down Raiders at Biola Invitational
LA MIRADA, Calif. -- Southern Oregon closed out the 2012 Biola Invitational with a pair of losses to top-10 teams, as No. 2 Concordia (Calif.) swept the Raiders and No. 10 Vanguard downed the Raiders in four sets on Friday.
The losses finished off a tough week for SOU, as the Raiders fell in all four matches down in California, including three sweeps. Southern Oregon falls to 3-6 overall this season and will return to action on Aug. 31, when the Raiders host William Jessup in a nonconference match at 3 p.m. at Ashland High School.
No. 10 Vanguard def. SOU, 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-12)
Box Score
Southern Oregon won the opening set to pick up its first set victory of the weekend, and the Raiders hung close in the second and third games before Vanguard put the match away with a .560 attack percentage in the fourth set.
Haley Kasler led the way for SOU with 13 kills, while Taina Kaner added 11 kills and 16 digs in the loss. Four Lions finished with double-digit kills, led by Kendall Haldi's 14.
The Raiders scored six of the first eight points in the opener, but the Lions used an 11-3 run to turn the four-point deficit into a four-point advantage. Vanguard eventually took a five-point lead at 17-12 before a block by Jordan Crossley and Liz Madden sparked a 13-5 SOU run that included the final four points of the set in the 25-22 set victory.
The second set featured 13 tie scores before a 5-1 Vanguard run put the Lions up 20-16. Southern Oregon scored the next two points, but Vanguard closed out the set on a 5-2 run. The Raiders overcame a pair of four-point deficits in the third set to tie it up at 20-20 before the Lions tallied the next three to make it 23-20. Southern Oregon pulled within one at 23-22, but a service error made it set point for Vanguard, and Grace Konstanzer's kill two points later gave the Lions the 2-1 set advantage.
Vanguard stormed out to a 10-4 lead in the fourth set, and after a pair of SOU points the Lions used a 9-1 run to stretch their lead to 19-8 as they pulled away to the easy 25-12 win.
No. 2 Concordia (Calif.) def. SOU, 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-12)
Box Score
Concordia hit .409 for the match while limiting Southern Oregon to a .102 attack percentage as the Eagles improved to 7-0 on the season. The Eagles opened the first set on a 10-3 run and eventually extended their lead to 23-11 before closing out the 25-16 win.
The second and third sets were even more dominant for Concordia, as the Lions opened the second set on a 17-4 run and led the second set 14-7 before closing out the match with a 7-point streak.